Vernon Davis: I strongly believe 49ers should be Super Bowl favorites

San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis says that after reaching the NFC Championship Game last season, he’s confident the 49ers will take the next step this season.

“I strongly believe we should be the Super Bowl favorites,” Davis told Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. “But I can’t talk about it because it’s all about work. It starts here at practice. I don’t want to talk about it and brag and say this and that, because it’s not about that. It’s about working first. And in the end, you will see where you’ll be.”

Davis said he’s not the only one on the 49ers who’s confident they’re going to the Super Bowl.

“A lot of guys are confident,” Davis said. “We know what we have here. We just come out to work, that’s all you see. Guys working and guys who love the game. I love being out here, man.

Davis said that he didn’t watch the Super Bowl after the 49ers lost to the Giants, but that loss let the 49ers know what it takes to win it all.

“This team is ready,” Davis said. “We smelled it, so we know what it’s like. There’s nothing like it. I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life.”

And Davis thinks he’ll experience something else he has never experienced in February, when the 49ers are in the Super Bowl.

Playing in the worse division in football does give the 9ers a better shot at making the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how they play as being the “hunted” this year and not the surprise team of last year.

He also said he was a team player and does not do selfish things, and then the next game (NFC championship) he scored a touchdown and got a call due to unsportmantlike conduct..and cost his team 20 yards..

Elite QB or not this team now knows what it takes to take it to the next level & it all starts with NOT letting Kyle Williams EVER touch the ball on returns. DEFENSE WILL DOMINATE once again Smith will improve enough to make this team the team to beat in the NFC. Davis knows what he is talking about………Haters keep on hating.

It’s settled then, the Niners will meet the Texans in this years Preseason Super Bowl.
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Yup. Funny how that usually equates to the kis of death or Madden Curse isn’t it?

The key to Super Bowl victory anymore is having a good to very good team which takes their lumps but gets healthy and hot at the right time. The teams which dominate all year seem to always have issues when they are truly challenged.

Like I’ve said before…. ALL teams should have that mindset in June. This team is one of the ones that have a legitimate chance….or is that my team loyalty showing? They have shored up some deficiencies (cough.receiver.cough) and if that defense and special teams can come through with more great effort then the 9ers good chance of being SB bound… We’ve gotta keep Akers off the field a bit better this season though! 🙂

@bigwalt…elite QB you say? Please give us more pearls of wisdom from your extensive lexicon of football knowledge!

I generally get so annoyed by your ability to be the first person to comment on 50% of the stories on this site. The amount of free time you have is inconceivable. This, however, is your best comment to date. Try a few more of these witty comments and few less of the hateful comments you normally contribute.

Good for him! Every player should expect his team to reach the Super Bowl. I like that Davis is maturing…he makes a point about needing to work hard in order to reach the SB (as opposed to players who expect to magically end up in the SB simply because they had some sucess the year before). I wouldn’t want players on my team who expected to go 8-8.

Nothing wrong with being confident. The niners are not the only ones that have been saying that. Hell alot of teams have been saying that. We went 13-3 last year and we had some tough teams last year along the way. Yeah our schedule is going to be tough and no one knows what’s going to happen but I do know that I love the fact that we have that mindset to make it there. Now we just have to prove it on the field. Everyone has a right to say they will make it to the Superbowl. That’s the goal and there is nothing wrong with that.

I’ll start first by saying, get over the ” dream team ” eagles, ya’l are
As bad as the media, can you fit anymore of Vince youngs nut sack in your
Mouths? Secondly, smith is a game managing QB the guy can win games because he has a defense that makes it possible, this team is a dangerous team, and unless everyone commenting on this is a giant fan, you should just stop, cuz it looks like A LOT of jealous trolls

People keep saying “elite” QB. That is kinda funny. How many “elite” QBs in the league have rings? How many were “elite” before they won their first? Heck… Eli had to win TWO for the populace to give him ANY love. I’ll tell you what…keep your “elite” tag. It doesn’t mean anything. Somebody willing to make an articulate response?

Something to keep in mind … the Niners aren’t Super Bowl favorites because Las Vegas actually thinks they are the best team in the NFL. The Niners are favorites because so much money has been bet on them that the opening odds (10 to 1) were lowered to 4 to 1. I’m a Niners fan and hope they make a big push again this year but this favorite tag has to be kept in perspective.

Second year with the coach. Second year in the system. This time with an offseason…..

The biggest hurdle to the division are complete question marks. Will the Cardinals (Kolb) improve? Will the Rams take a step forward? Who knows. But it’s not like you have several good teams who are expected to be good.

All kinds of wishful thinking about the 49ers coming down to earth. “They won’t sneak up on anyone ha ha, the NFC worst ha ha, Alex Smith ha ha” . . . same ole, same ole. Too bad they have one of the best coaching staffs in the league now to go with one of the most talented rosters (Tied for the lead with seven players in the NFL top 100) . . . also Jim Harbaugh led programs DO NOT REGRESS. Look it up.

Giants won it all two of the last five years. Each time, no one gave them a snowball’s chance in hell. Last year, the odds of the Giants winning it all went as high as 80 to 1. Don’t worry who’s the “favorite”. Just play the game. Sometimes, it’s better when everyone writes you off. Be thankful you play in the West. Given that the Seahawks are improving, you still have four “free” wins on the schedule and you should be able to manage at least a split with Seattle. Even with a tough schedule, that 5 game advantage should give you home field in the playoffs. Plus, the only tough away game where you may have to deal with bad weather playing a factor is against New England. Except for that, your cold weather away games are all indoors or where it’s warm. You’ll be playing at Lambeau before the leaves even turn on the trees. Stay injury free and you may just get there.

49ers have the easiest division in the NFL, and the easiest road to a #1 seed. That should make them SB favorites, along with their performance last year. Packers and Pats are obviously strong contenders as well, and probably better teams, but the niners have a much easier road.

The 49ers will be a great team this year, no doubt. But if the Packers can play better defense this year, they are the clear favorites. No disrespect to the Giants either, but it is so tough to repeat. I think it will be a Giants-Packers NFC championship, and the Packers get their redemption.

Niners are doing a great job keeping the target…um, I mean, the spotlight on themselves this offseason. Alex calls out Cam. Harbaugh gets into Clintonesque definitions regarding his interest in Peyton Manning. Now Davis is proclaiming them SB favorites.

I wonder if any of them are familiar with the statistical concept of “Regression to the mean”?

I generally get so annoyed by your ability to be the first person to comment on 50% of the stories on this site. The amount of free time you have is inconceivable. This, however, is your best comment to date. Try a few more of these witty comments and few less of the hateful comments you normally contribute.
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I don’t mean to sound contrite, I just don’t know how else to answer, so please for give me….

You “get so annoyed by (my) ability to be the first person to comment on 50% of the stories on this site”, what’s there to be annoyed about?

Like I told somebody else recently, If you want that ability, be your own boss and have the people under you doing all the work.

That’s it in a nutshell. Hell, I could be first to post in 90% of the stories, if I wanted to.

“If Kyle Williams doesn’t fumble twice against the Giants we would have been IN THE SUPERBOWL”

Yeah right!!

So tired of all the cry baby 49er fans blaming Kylie Williams for last years choke at HOME.
Reality is that “big bad 49er defense” couldn’t stop Giants on 3rd and 15 when they needed to and we ran it down there throat to the 5 yd line for a chip shot FG to win in OT…….Niner D was so SOFT when it counted most and didn’t make the big stop that championship defenses do especially at home.

I am a little confused how you can say the Niners have the easiest road to a #1 seed, obviously you havnt seen our schedual. I’m not arguing that we are not in the worst division in football but let’s look here.

Away games-@GB,NO,NE,NYJ,STL,ARI,SEA. (looks pretty tough to me and let’s be honest a division game on the road is never an easy game)

Home games-DET,CHI,MIA,BUF,NYG,STL,ARI,SEA. (A few tough games depending on which bears and bills team show up. I look at it as 3 somewhat easy division games at home but the seahawks will be a much improved team so even they are not an easy win at home)

So I just don’t understand how you say Niners have the easiest road to a #1 seed, I dunno about you but looks to be a tough season coming up this fall.

maybe in 4 years you will have a good enough team to make the playoffs and the NFC Champ game instead of bragging about a rookie QB putting up big numbers. I’m not mad at all about my team making it to the NFC Champ when I didn’t expect it. You may have the better QB by far but 49ers have the better TEAM by far. So not mad at all. Are you?

If athletes did what most of you fool say, “just shut up, what a stupid thing to say.” The NFL off season would be even more boring than it already is. God, so many of you are such haters. Good job with the Alex Smith comments… I haven’t seen a thousand comments like that already — way to be original.
If you were in the NFL and doing an interview would you think, “I better watch what I say/ not say that I think my team is good enough for the SB. Because if I do, a bunch trolls on PFT will make fun of me in ignorant ways.”
You muggs are pathetic!!

ninersfan8672 says:
Jun 6, 2012 9:59 AM
Ok let’s see…..Trent dilfer, brad Johnson, Jim mcmahon. 3 average at best quarterbacks who all had phenominal defenses. You do not have to have an elite qb to win a superbowl

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Welcome to the year 2012 – where the NFL isnt even close to what it used to be.

You go ahead and run your soft ass RBs at a team like the Giants, and we will KNOCK HIM OUT again.

illbillgiantz4lif says:
Jun 6, 2012 8:56 AM
As a Giants fan, I have to conceed that they are pretty doggone good! Looking forward to playing these guys again in 2012.

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This is why I do respect many Giants fans. Thanks for the compliment. More fans should be like you. It is going to be a tough road for both teams but hopefully we will both do well this season. I am a dedicated 49ers fan but I do realize what can happen. It could always go the other way for us. But I just have faith that we have a decent season. I predicted 10-6 actually for us. I think that is pretty reasonable and we can still win our division with no problem. Many are upset with me because of my prediction but lets face it. Our QB is not that great but we do still have all of our D back which helps alot. Hopefully our O-Line will improve and Vernon will not have so much pressure on him. There is nothing wrong with anyone predicting a superbowl. That means that we need to work extra hard in training to get better.

I strongly believe he’s wrong.
I also strongly believe that Jim Schwartz is going to finish what Harbaugh started last year and serve him a brutal beatdown on the 50 yard line after the Lions roll in week 2.

Do football players understand that this is about gambling and not predictive? Duh! Clearly not. Opinions don’t matter. frankly as a Packers fan I wish the 49ers were the favorite. Who needs the kiss of death this early in the game.
A long hard season and the team with the most momentum at the end of the season has been the victor the past two years – How’re you gonna’ predict that?

Wow, there are a lot of haters here. I am seeing a lot of the “What QB?” comments as well as the “you need an elite QB.”

Let me just remind everybody what non-elite QB beat the saints defense. What non-elite QB almost beat the giants. Last season, we would have been in the Superbowl has it not been for 2 errors on special teams. We would have won the NFC championship with only 1 catch by 1 receiver.

The 49ers Defense is the same D from last year, with better chemistry. Alex Smith as targets that he can pass to and they can catch. We are going to run the double TE, the triple backs, and 3-4 WR slot. you thought Bill Walsh’s west coast offence was amazing, you just wait. The 49ers have that playbook as well. Joe Montana was not an elite QB until Walsh started the west coast offence. Alex is the same way.

Wow. He really burned it up! Looks like his defense had to bail him out of some BAD decisions! By your standards he is not elite. When you put a name on it though it magically BECOMES elite. Thanks for trying guys!

bigblue5611 says:
Jun 6, 2012 10:06 AM
“If Kyle Williams doesn’t fumble twice against the Giants we would have been IN THE SUPERBOWL”

Yeah right!!

So tired of all the cry baby 49er fans blaming Kylie Williams for last years choke at HOME.
Reality is that “big bad 49er defense” couldn’t stop Giants on 3rd and 15 when they needed to and we ran it down there throat to the 5 yd line for a chip shot FG to win in OT…….Niner D was so SOFT when it counted most and didn’t make the big stop that championship defenses do especially at home.
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Giants fans are knowledgeable and know football in general. The person who posted this previous message is not one of them.

The “NFC West is the weakest division in football” meme is officially old.

The Cardinals were 7-2 in their last nine games, including a win over the Niners.

Seattle beat the world champion Giants in New York and also beat the Ravens. They came within two points of beating the Niners. They had the best rushing attack in football over the last nine weeks of the season. Their defense finished in the top 10 in the league. They managed to do this with Tavaris Jackson at QB – they will likely upgrade that position this year.

I will grant that the Rams were abysmal, but with Fisher coaching and having added a ton of younger talent, they should be on the road to at least respectability again.

It’s not 2010 anymore. If you go into a game against the Cardinals or Seahawks thinking it’s going to be easy, you are in for a world of hurt.

Judging by these playoff numbers QB2 is better than QB1! Although QB #2s stats are horrid in the SB he still hoisted the lombardi that year. I can keep this up. I find some peoples lack of football knowledge on a football forum to be disturbing. Lol

“Teams have tape on them” argument is bogus. If that was the case than why do the Steelers and Ravens have great defenses year in and year out?

Spoiler alert: The answer is talent.

The 49ers are legitimately talented on defense and have been the past couple of seasons. They were never elite till last season because of poor coaching and the lack of a legitimate pass rusher which both were fixed last season.

“Won’t sneak up on anyone next season” another faulty argument. You might sneak up on teams early on in the season but you can’t tell me teams haven’t taken notice by the end of season when they’ve only lost a couple of games and have double digit wins. Like the Saint’s were thinking “Pfft, 49ers suck, we got this one in the bag” or the Giants thought “Meh no worries on this one since it’s the 49ers and they play in the NFC West”.

49ers won’t likely go 13-3 again since the schedule is even tougher this time around but they are an emerging power in the NFL and they’ll be a factor for the foreseeable future.

Anybody feel like backing up their claims? Seems to me that Alex is trending upward and just because he isn’t considered “elite” doesn’t mean ANYTHING. This is a TEAM game. I don’t think you could reasonably mention Alex in that category of elite, but I do think that they’ve figured out some things he has done well and he’ll only benefit from a full Offseason in the SAME system. Something he has never had. So…. Keep saying “he sucks” without any true analysis and keep showing the rest of us how “special” you really are.

The 49ers aren’t winning a superbowl with Alex Smith. It’s that plain and simple. He isn’t an elite quarterback. You might think having an elite quarterback doesn’t matter but look at the last few superbowl winning QB’s:

Eli Manning
Aaron Rodgers
Drew Brees

Can you possibly say that Alex Smith belongs with those class of QB’s ? And while it’s true that Aaron Rodgers and Eli weren’t considered elite until after they won their Superbowl neither of these two guys were game managers like Alex Smith. The Packers went 15-1 with Rodgers despite the lack of a run game and a bad defense. The 49ers went 13-3 because of an elite defense, a solid running game and great special teams. When you don’t have an elite QB your team has to be elite in other areas of the game in order to succeed. That’s why the 49er’s can’t afford to have a bad defense or run game or special teams while teams like the Patriots and Packers can do without an elite defense b/c they have an elite QB.

Funny how everyone here is saying the 49ers can’t make it to the Superbowl with our QB… Yeah we know Alex Smith isn’t great but did you guys actually watch football last season?

If Kyle Williams doesn’t fumble twice against the Giants we would have been IN THE SUPERBOWL.

Now we added a bunch of WR’s and still have the same exact (BEST IN THE NFL) defense….

The Niners should be favorites.

______________________________

I think Amami Toomer said it best last night on Sirius NFL radio – 1 for 13 on third downs. Plenty of opportunity and not a whole happening on offense. They lost because they couldn’t move the ball. Alex had some Pretty pedestrian numbers. As long as the coaching staff doesn’t get delusions of grandeur with Alex Smith you should be alright. You do have a good defense.

This is not what I like to hear coming from 49er camp or VD. We got as far as we did last year by being hungry and by having a blue collar mentality. You can tell VD started to back pedal a little bit, and honestly I think this is more so a case of lingual diarrhea than it is a snapshot of our self-evaluative image.

On another note, there are some obvious 49er haters here! It’s ridiculous. I too was down on Alex, but let’s be fair, in his two seasons with REAL offensive minds on his side (Norv Turner and Harbaugh) he thrived. Keep in mind we had no offseason last year.

Seattle fans, you have three QB’s – Pete Carroll obviously thinks he is at USC, and since he does he may as well get used to losing to the superior coach, Jim Harbaugh.

Ill end by saying defense wins championships and also that we have put the weapons around Smith that he needs, including one of the best coaches in football. LaMichael James will be in the running for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and the Niners will be back in the NFC championship game. Who we play against and where that game is will decide whether we go further than that! Let’s face it, we WILL get a home game in the first round and no team coming off a wildcard round is going to come to SF and beat Our D off a week of rest. If the Saints couldn’t, neither can anyone!

This is not what I like to hear coming from 49er camp or VD. We got as far as we did last year by being hungry and by having a blue collar mentality. You can tell VD started to back pedal a little bit, and honestly I think this is more so a case of lingual diarrhea than it is a snapshot of our self-evaluative image.

On another note, there are some obvious 49er haters here! It’s ridiculous. I too was down on Alex, but let’s be fair, in his two seasons with REAL offensive minds on his side (Norv Turner and Harbaugh) he thrived. Keep in mind we had no offseason last year.

Seattle fans, you have three QB’s – Pete Carroll obviously thinks he is at USC, and since he does he may as well get used to losing to the superior coach, Jim Harbaugh.

Ill end by saying defense wins championships and also that we have put the weapons around Smith that he needs, including one of the best coaches in football. LaMichael James will be in the running for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and the Niners will be back in the NFC championship game. Who we play against and where that game is will decide whether we go further than that! Let’s face it, we WILL get a home game in the first round and no team coming off a wildcard round is going to come to SF and beat Our D off a week of rest. If the Saints couldn’t, neither can anyone!

To all the haters if the niners get through this schedule this year and make the playoffs im sure your team will not want any piece of them. And by the way the worst division in football would be the AFC west.

now how many haters can say they will play a schedule like this in 2012, hmm not many and by the way when its a division game you can throw out the records think NFC east last year they beat eachother up weekly.

@tanzim…. I specifically said that Alex cannot be considered Elite. I’m not putting down any of the QBs you’ve mentioned. I believe they are all better than Alex. I only take issue when guys wanna run him down simply by saying “he sucks”. In my previous posts I’ve listed 3 QBs without attaching names, just numbers. The stats from their playoff runs are from their first time sniffing playoff glory. Their names were:

Peyton Manning
Ben Roethlisberger
Eli Manning

All three guys won their first at different points in their careers. PMs numbers were putrid. His defense, which was a bottom feeder in the regular season, saved his bacon. Big Ben was a youngster with an already established team. All they needed him to do was not lose. Isn’t THAT the definition of game manager? I know that Alex is a bit older than Ben was, but that isn’t really the point. Eli has had it the toughest of my 3 mystery QBs. He wasn’t considered elite until after his second and not even his fellow NFLers gave him much love. I’ve always respected him, but he did reach another level last year.

Aaron Rodgers had Brett’s team around him. I’m not knocking him because I truly believe he is a great QB. He defense is good, not great and they helped him in that SB run.

Brees is a different cat. This dude truly elevated his squad which is why I’m always quick to praise him. He makes his guys better and that is truly the mark of a great QB. That is where Alex truly needs to improve. Crabtree, Williams and Ginn are not formidable and the 9ers suffered due to that. I think Brees has the ability to rise above a lot of that, but even he would’ve found it a daunting task.

Do I expect the 49ers to be better? Yes, but that road is going to be harder. That schedule is the price you pay for a great year last year. I believe Alex will rise to the occasion.

alex smith career has 12543 yds in a 70game(66starts) career 58.0 completion% 68 tds 58 ints 6.4 yards per attempt and a career losing record 32-34 quite impressive indeed.
do i hate the niners??? sure i do. do i like their defense???yes i do. do i think you have a qb that can win a championship?????nope
i would surely reduce the hate if people would stop acting like this guy is an upper tier qb in the league. its just absurd. please stop

I agree that the 9ers have an easy schedule but they will have to fight Seattle this yeah… They’ve boosted their club this off season.. But an easy schedule will get them to the playoffs an then a some team will come outta the woodworks and send them home LIKE THE GIANTS DID LAST YEAR! Not hating just saying

I really don’t know why I’m going to respond in kind to everybody bagging on the 49ers or Alex Smith. I’d agree that nothing of Smith’s career would stick him in elite status, but he is still young and has a brilliant coaching staff, weapons, defense….team, basically. It just bothers me that there are so many people who want to blow my buzz by talking ish on my team. Maybe some 49er fans have been a little overzealous, but it has been a long damn time since I’ve felt this good. Pay some respect, because I’m not talking ish on your team…

Davis should take a look at their schedule this year. A lot tougher than last year. Last season niners had most of their toughest opponents at home (except @balt) this year not the case. Still should win 10 games just because they get an automatic 6 wins just from playing in the NFC west. But last years 13 wins was a product of a softer schedule (cue whiney Niner fans with no perspective) still a good team but not as good as Niner fans want to believe

@discosucs….. Well put. Playoffs is about defense and coaching. Earlier I posted the playoff stats of QBs that are considered “elite” without using their names. PM’s numbers were horrible! Their normally abysmal defense saved that postseason. I couldn’t get hardly anybody to engage in that conversation though because it is MUCH more cerebral to say “Alex sux!”. I’ll take the guy that doesn’t turn it over and can move the chains when needed…which I think Alex is. He also has some uncharted topside which will come out this year.

Steely Mcbeam obviously doesn’t get it. 6 guaranteed wins? Seattle and AZ are underrated and STL will probably be on the upswing. Division always plays tough…no matter who you are.

The haters are funny. The fact that they have so many comments about the Niners lets me know that they are intimidated. Lol!!! I love it. I just know that the team that will be taking the field this season is going to be better than it was last year. They cannot put 8 in the box 70-80% of the game, or they will pay the price for it. I will say that the Niners have a good chance of reaching the Super Bowl and winning it. Will I say favorite? Sure. Why not? The Giants fans are saying it. The Pats fans are saying it. Even the Saints and Ravens fans are saying it. Well not too many Saints fans are, but you know what I mean. We know that the cat is out of the bag, the issue is can anyone catch the cat? The Niners are not going to surprise anyone this season. That’s well and good, but no one can surprise us either. We will add a little shock value when we beat the Packers in week 1. Then we will beat the Lions, Giants, Bears, Jets, Bills, Dolphins, Pats, and Saints. All beatable teams. We have beat them in the past with good coaching and sound execution. That is what it takes to win. Confidence, coaching, and execution. Those are all the things that are talked about at the podium after the games. Not big stats…that’s for losers. We want the win…Super Bowl Champs 2012-2013—S.F. 49ers. Book it.

Playing in the worse division in football does give the 9ers a better shot at making the playoffs.

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This coming from a fan of the Giants who won their division at 9-7. The only division winner that had less wins than the Giants was Denver, and their division actually had more total combined wins… So yea I guess you’re right, playing in the worst division really will get you to the superbowl. Time to get up to speed and stop looking at stats from years ago.

The haters always pull out the. “Not with Alex smith” card. The team went all the way to the nfcc with him. He had no receivers. Crabtree dropped everything. He was matched with yet another head coach and another new offense. Why wouldn’t he be in a better position this year with all the free agent signings? The same system and a regular preseaaon instead of a shortened one. There is a better chance that he does better than the is of him doing worse. So pull out the Alex smith card all you want. His best season is favorably in front of him.

The team is gaining the experience they need this off season under coach Harbaugh. They have many weapons and depth at almost every area on the field. If Alex can manage the football the way he did last year I strongly believe the 49ers have a genuine shot at making it to Feb. Offensive yardage is going to increase from last year simply because defenses are going to have to respect the run and double up on someone in the secondary, under Harbaughs complex system we should always have someone to hit. The schedule is a great thing for the 49ers because they will win the NFC west and chances are they will again, meet a team in the championship they have already played. I feel this gives them not only a chance to gain the experience of playing the stronger teams in the league, but it gives them game tape and knowledge of the opposition. It will be interesting to watch it all unfold. Best of luck to all fans. Hope to see you in the “Big Show”

I remember this as well….Vernon is not a winner…just ask Mike Singletary…

“I believe this: I would rather play with 10 people and get penalized all the way until we’ve got to do something else. Rather than play with 11 when I know that right now that person is not sold out to be a part of this team. It is more about them than it is about the team.

Cannot play with them. Cannot win with them. Cannot coach with them. Can’t do it. I want winners. I want people that want to win.”